Improvement in retorts for distilling oil from coal



J.- E. HOLMES Coal Oil Retort.

No. 24,212., v Pate nted May 31, 1859.

mm? w I wrw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. E. HOLMES, or NEWARK, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND Jos. PALMER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN RETORTS FOR DISTILLING OIL FROM COAL.

Speeiiieationforming part of Letters Patent No. 24,2 l 2, dated May 31, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPH E. HoLMEs, of Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Upright Retorts for Distilling Goal or other Substances to Obtain Oil or other Products; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which a central vertical se'ctionof a retort having my improvement applied to it.

is represented.

This improvement consists in the employment within an upright retort, and at or near the center thereof, of a perforated tube,through which the vapors or a great portion of them can escape to the exit-pipe as fast as they are eliminated without being drawn or forced into contact with the heated sides of theretort, as

the greater proportion of the vapors are caused to be in the ordinary stationary retort by the packing of the coal in the center thereof.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is an upright cylindrical retort, having a detachable mouth-piece, A, at the top, fitted with a cover, B, which is removed to charge the retort, and having a spout, O, at the bottom, fitted with a door, D, which is opened to draw out the coke or other residuum of dis tillation from the retort.

E is the exit-spout, attached to the mouthpiece A of the retort. The retort is built into products of combustion pass from the fire-place H, which is situated under the bottom of the retort, to the chimney I, near the top thereof. A large tile, J, is placed under the bottom of the retort, to prevent its beingburned, and the said tile is interposed between the retort and the piers K K, which support it. The communication between thefire-place H and the main upright flue G G is by means of a number of small flues, L L. The exit-spout communicates in the usual manner, by an escapepipe, N, with the hydraulic main 0, from which there is the usual means of communication with the condensing apparatus.

P is the vapor-tube which constitutes my invention, made of cast or stout sheet-iron, of a diameter from one-fourth (2 to one-third (2;) that of the retort, and slightly tapering toward the bottom. The said tube extends downward as near to a level with the top of the spout O as it can be permitted to do without interfering with the operation of drawing out the coke, and it extends upward nearly to the top of the retort, its bottom being open to permit any fine coal or other solid particles that may enter through its perforations O O to drop out, p

and its top being capped with a conical cap, 1), for the purpose of causing the equal distribution of the charge round the sides of the re- The perforated tube P, besides providing a Y free escape for the vapors, and, as it were, inviting them away from the heated sides of the retort, by contact with which they are liable to be converted into permanent gas, reduces the lateral thickness of the body of the coal or other material in the retort, and so enables the heat to penetrate the whole of the charge more perfectly and thoroughly. It not only enables a larger product of light oil to be obtained from a given quantity of coal, but enables a charge to be worked off in a much less time than in a common stationary retort.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The employment, in a retort for distilling oil from coal, of a central perforated tube, P,

suspendedfrom the mouth-piece A, an open space being also left below the bottom of tube P, for the removal of the coke residuum through the mouth 0, substantially as herein shown and described.

JOSEPH E. HoLMEs.v

Witnesses:

O. G. LUNDBORG, NELsoN KENYoN. 

